Scientists Find Gladiolin Disarms Candida, Which Kills 2 Million a Year
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 20
Scientists Find Gladiolin Disarms Candida, Which Kills 2 Million a Year
3 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 20
Summary
Gladiolin pushed Candida albicans out of its invasive hyphal state and back into a less harmful yeast form in lab dishes, pointing to a new way to tackle drug-resistant fungal infections.
Current Biology researchers traced that effect to two proteins—Tye7 and Gal4—which drove the fungus's glucose metabolism into overdrive until it exhausted fuel and lost its tissue-invading form.
Amphotericin B worked better when paired with gladiolin, with the combination suppressing Candida biofilms on medical-device-like surfaces more strongly than either treatment alone and potentially allowing lower, less toxic doses.
Fungal infections kill an estimated 2 million people a year, yet there are no vaccines and existing antifungals can be toxic or increasingly ineffective, especially against bloodstream infections such as candidemia.
Gladiolin, a compound first identified in 2017 from Burkholderia gladioli, still faces preclinical and then human trials before researchers can show it is safe and effective in patients.